Down the Road was launched on Saturday at Hyderabad. I had been a nervous wreck during the launch of Urban Shots, thankfully on Saturday I was much calmer (looks like experience counts here too 🙂 ).

Unveiling the book 'Down the Road'

Kunal & Ahmed

The launch was fun, had a few interesting conversations with the people attending. And I had my first chat with a reporter. Talked with a lady from Indian Express, and she asked me a lot of questions. I saw the article on the Indian Express website and even though my name has been printed incorrectly, I’ve been quoted extensively. Feels good 😀

The post-launch dinner session with friends was a perfect end. The book “Down the Road” is about the good old school/college days and I was able to relive the exact same emotions thanks to a mini-reunion with friends from alma-mater (courtesy the book launch). Had such an awesome dinner at our favourite dhaba – Needs that when people asked me about the launch I replied with the number of Alu-Parathas and Lassi we had.

That is the power of any campus – you forget everything else. Hope this book does the same with the readers. And hope this book too becomes a bestseller 🙂

I had always dreamed that one day I would be a best-selling author. Well, that dream has come true, although not completely. Today I can call myself a co-author of a best selling book – Urban Shots.

Now that that chapter is close to its end rather than the beginning, it was time to write another chapter. And so I picked up the pen once again, and wrote a short story for another anthology – Down the Road. This book has also been published by Grey Oak Publications and this time the stories are based on the years we have spent or are spending in schools and colleges.

I had always wanted to attend a book launch, but circumstances never allowed me to attend one. Who knew that the first book launch I would attend would be where I am on the dais to launch my own book! Urban Shots was launched yesterday at Crossword Book Store by three of the authors – Ahmed Faiyaz, Vrinda Baliga, and me.

Once the two books (other being Another Chance by Ahmed Faiyaz) were unveiled, we talked about the books, each authors’ writing styles, our inspirations for writing, and how each of us approached writing. Vinay Varma moderated the discussion.

I was very nervous for the initial few minutes on the stage, but once you start talking about something you love, something you really enjoy – the butterflies in your stomach stop flitting about and sit down to listen what you have to say. I spoke about my stories, how I develop them and answered a few questions thrown at me by the audience.

Discussion about the books, contemporary Indian writing, and the Q&A session

After the discussion, I met many interesting people and had an interesting talk with most of them. And then there were the book signings 🙂 Felt really weird signing Urban Shots. And the pen felt like an alien in my hand – for me writing has stopped being about pen and paper, and it has started being about the keyboard now.

Signing "Urban Shots".

Thanks to everybody who came to the event, and made it memorable! Without a doubt, one of the best evenings of my life 🙂

And I’ve to say this – nothing beats the feeling you get when you see your name in print; or maybe there is something better – you are lying in bed reading a book, just about to nod off, and the last thing you read is a story written by yourself 🙂

The book launch of Urban Shots is about to start across all major metros in India. I’ll be a panel member for the Hyderabad launch on 18th November at 7pm @ Crosswords Bookstore at City Center Mall in Banjara Hills.